3-channel video, 18 min
Set against the backdrop of a school production of Othello, this work critically engages with the legacies of Soviet propaganda and its systematic instrumentalisation and appropriation of various anti-imperialist and anti-Western movements. The camera follows three protagonists rehearsing the roles of Othello, Iago, and Emilia, who try to find their voices within Shakespeare’s play while simultaneously weaving in quotes from Paul Robeson, Eslanda Robeson, and Paul Robeson Jr., as well as clippings from Soviet media.
Cast: Komila Aripova, Viktor Ruban, Lia Dostlieva, Sumugan Sivanesan, Prof. Dr. Botakoz Kassymbekova, Ivars Gravlejs, Andrii Dostliev, Kapusta Band, Bonnie the dog.
The work was produced as part of an artistic research residency at the Paul Robeson Archive of the Akademie der Künste, Berlin.
Commissioned by the Akademie der Künste.
The project was made possible through funding by the Ukrainian Institute in Germany and the German Federal Foreign Office.
